Pacific FC announced on Wednesday the signing of defensive midfielder Daniel de Pauli to a guaranteed contract for 2025 with a club option for 2026.
De Pauli, 25, is a native of Goiânia, Brazil, who has played in Brazil’s top division and joins the Canadian Premier League (CPL) after most recently representing FC Krumovgrad in the top tier of Bulgarian soccer.
“Daniel is an experienced central midfielder with a high pedigree,” said Pacific FC head coach James Merriman. “He’s played in the top division of Brazilian football and brings a different dynamic to our midfield than what we’ve had.”
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De Pauli spent his youth career with his hometown club Goiás, debuting for their senior team in 2019 in the Campeonato Brasileiro or Série A, the top-flight of Brazilian soccer. He was promoted to the first team full-time for the 2020 season and made 33 appearances for the club before he was sent on loan to Brazilian clubs Associação Atlética Aparecidense and Athletic Club, respectively.
He completed his five years of professional play in Brazil with stints with Cerrado in 2023 and Goiânia Esporte Clube in 2024.
Following his success in Brazil, de Pauli signed with Krumovgrad where he appeared in 12 league and two cup matches last season for the Bulgarian club.
De Pauli is a versatile midfielder capable of playing both as a dynamic box-to-box midfielder and as a defensive-minded holding midfielder. He strengthens the Tridents’ midfield alongside homegrown talents Sean Young and Sami Keshavarz, as well as recent signing Aidan Daniels.
“Daniel is a very technical player with a high work-rate who is capable of dictating the tempo and rhythm of the game,” said Merriman.